Pakistan experienced a severe heatwave from 26th April to 2nd May 2022. With predicted dust-thunderstorm and rains during the Eid holidays in most parts of the country, the heatwave is likely to gradually subside towards the weekend.
Although relatively cooler and windy weather in Karachi brought a little relief, Nawabshah recorded today’s highest temperature at 49.5 C with temperatures varying within the range of 42 C to 49.5 C in various parts of the country.
Over a billion inhabitants of South Asia, a region home to a fourth of the world’s population have to bear the brunt of excessive carbon emissions from elsewhere in the world. Between them, an elite club of about 20 countries is responsible for 80 percent of global heat-trapping.
Despite contributing nominally to global warming, people from Pakistan experienced a record-breaking heatwave beginning last week and expected to continue for a couple of more days, only to subside for a few days before predictably going up again in May.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department predicted a rise in temperatures by 6 to 8 degrees Celsius above the normal ranges during the current heatwave, mostly in rural Pakistan. Very hot and dry weather is expected to persist over central and upper Sindh with maximum temperatures ranging between 42°C and 44°C in the coming days.
The country had witnessed the highest temperatures since 1961 in the March of last year. This April, the region overall recorded the highest Land Surface Temperatures in over 122 years during the recent heatwave.
Extreme heat is a major threat to human, animal, and plant health. Farmers have to use water sparingly in a country where agriculture is the mainstay of the economy and accounts for about 40% of the workforce.
Sherry Rehman, the recently inducted minister for Climate Change has also warned the provincial disaster management authorities to prepare urgently as the unusual heat may lead to the melting of snow and ice in the mountainous regions of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, resulting in flash floods or glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), leaving around 7 million people vulnerable.
Although the World Meteorological Organization considers it premature to attribute extreme heat in India and Pakistan solely to climate change, scientists have been linking the early onset of an intense summer in the region to global climate change. Heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense and for the first time in decades, Pakistan has gone from winter to summer skipping the transitional spring season with serious consequences for lives and livelihoods.
In its alert to the provincial authorities, the federal climate change ministry recognized the threat to human health and agricultural output, saying the early onset of summer has badly affected the wheat crop. With Nawabshah recording the hottest global temperature at 50°C in April, which is usually the tail end of spring, it is imperative that managing the impact of climate change be a priority.
UN experts have warned that a 1.1-degree Celsius increase in the global temperature would continue to cause such extreme weather events including heatwaves, droughts, flooding, winter storms, hurricanes, and wildfires.
According to climate science, many parts of Pakistan’s plains regions are likely to become unlivable due to extreme heat in a few decades.
Given the continuing extreme weather conditions the authorities must put immediate measures in place like setting up temporary shelters where people can rest and hydrate; crafting better urban plans; and encouraging public-private partnerships to create more green spaces in urban areas and to improve the transport system to reduce carbon emissions.
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